Survival of the Fittest
by amurleopard10
Summary: The team faces a threat when Mac and Jo are kidnapped and held hostage by a sadistic killer who hopes to use them to clear his name. JAC
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first attempt at a FanFic. I'm a fan of CSI:NY so I thought I'd start there. Should I keep going or drop it? Feel free to review and rate, otherwise enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Most characters are from CSI: NY, only for entertainment.**

**CHAPTER 1  
**

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_Beep, beep, beep-_ Detective Jo Danville slammed her hand on the alarm clock and then glanced at the time.

"Shit!" she swore, realizing she was already late. She quickly leaped out of bed and went down the hall to wake up her daughter, Ellie, telling her to get ready for school. A half an hour later, Jo was driving her daughter to school while turning on her phone.

"Mom, you shouldn't be on your phone while driving," Ellie mocked, doing her best mother-impression.

"Oh, be quiet," Jo teased. She quickly dialed her phone while occasionally glancing at the busy New York streets, and to her relief she heard the familiar voice of her co-worker, Lindsay Messer.

"Oh, thank goodness you picked up, Lindsay. Hey, would you mind covering for me? I'm running late this morning and I know how Mac has a fit if someone's late... Ok, thanks so much, bye." Jo quickly shut off her phone and threw it in the backseat of her car.

Jo quickly exited the elevator and almost ran into the New York crime lab, realizing that she was almost an hour late. She had just sat down at her messy, sticky-note-covered desk, when Detective Mac Taylor walked into her office. She had always thought that he was handsome, though she had never dwelled on these thoughts, knowing very well that he was her boss. He always seemed so serious and could have a bit of a temper if a team member made a mistake but after working with him for a couple of years she had begun to realize that underneath he was more kind and thoughtful, he just didn't show it often.

"Hey, Jo, I heard you got caught in some bad traffic this morning," Mac said when he entered her office.

"Wha- oh, yeah. It was pretty bad, sorry I was late," Jo responded, internally punishing herself for beginning to say 'what,' realising that Lindsay probably told Mac that she had been stuck in traffic. Luckily Mac didn't seem to notice and carried on;

"There's a dead body over in central park, the vic is female, mid- thirties. Flack and Hawkes are already at the scene. This victim also has a claw branded on her lower back and was raped." Both Jo and Mac looked at each other, and though neither of them wanted to say it, they were thinking the same thing; _serial killer. _This had been the third victim who had been dumped in central park, raped, and branded. If it was the same as the other women, cause of death would be strangulation with a piano wire.

"So far the main suspect is the first victim, Kelly Rempford's, husband, Garrett Rempford" Mac continued. "He's a piano teacher, so easy access to piano wire, and he has previous sexual assault charges."

"Well there are plenty of people who play piano in New York City, and the sexual assault charges aren't enough. We need evidence directly linking Garrett to the attacks," Jo said skeptically. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. This case really got to her, she had been the one who had first interviewed Garrett Rempford. The moment she saw him she didn't like him. There was something about his demeanor that sent chills down her spine.

_Jo entered the interview room and saw Garrett Rempford sitting in a chair, slumped over with his head in his hands._

_Looking up, he asked, in an almost-whiney voice, "Why am _I _the one being interviewed? Aren't you guys supposed to be looking for the guy who did this to my wife?" _

"_I'm very sorry, Mr. Rempford, but there's some things we need to clarify," Jo said while looking him over. He was a bigger man, not overweight, but definitely muscular. He had a slight tan, dark short hair, and green eyes. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties, and was definitely handsome. In her opinion, he didn't seem to be like a cold-blooded killer who would brand, rape and murder his wife._

_Jo continued, "It seems that there were some irregularities in your alibi and some things need clearing up. First, you seem to have two previous sexual assault charges. The first one back in 1999, where it says that a nurse filed sexual assault when you came into the clinic for a broken leg and let's just say you got overly touchy. The second sexual assault charge was two years ago where a mother of one of your piano students said that you forcibly kissed her._

_He looked up with bleary eyes and whimpered, "I didn't mean to. The first time I was really drunk, that's how I got the broken leg, I jumped off a bridge, and the second time, she lied. _She _kissed me. I was set up."_

_Jo looked skeptical and made a note to herself to follow up on that. She continued, "Also, you said you were at the bar, yet there was no record of anyone seeing you there and you didn't have any receipts." She glanced up from the file she was holding and saw that he was looking at her with confusion in his eyes._

"_B-But, I gave the other Detective a receipt. I promise," Garrett whimpered, looking like he might start crying again._

_Jo glanced at her report, and said, "There's no indication of that, but I can check with the Detective again. Anyway, it also says here that your wife was filing for a divorce because of domestic abuse. Apparently there were a couple previous instances where police had been sent to your home because the neighbors had complained of shouting and your wife went once went to the police station and said that you were beating her."_

_As soon as she said that last sentence, Garrett Rempford's whole demeanor changed. He stopped crying and a cold glint shined in his eyes. Jo narrowed her eyes and sat up in her chair, more alert. He stood up and started walking towards the door. Before she could protest, he spat out, in a deeper, more menacing voice, "That little bitch had it coming to her. She sat around while _I _did all the work. Then I would come home at night and she would just complain, and talk, and whine! I may have slapped her around a little, but she deserved it! But I _did not _kill her!"_

_Before Jo could even stop him, he walked out the door and slammed it shut. She just sat there and all she could think about was that look in his eyes._

Jo ducked under the yellow crime scene tape, which was wrapped around the trees that surrounded the young woman lying on the ground. It was a well-hidden hiding place, considering that it was in one of the most-frequented areas in New York City. Large pine trees grew close together, far off from the nearest path. They were lucky that a couple of bird watchers had followed a hawk over these trees and literally stumbled across the body. The CSU's were already crawling over the place, picking up every bit of possible evidence they could find, but Jo knew there would be little. The killer was smart, he knew how to avoid leaving DNA.

"Hey, Jo," Hawkes came bounding up to her. He quickly filled her in on what they knew so far. "The woman is a Jane Doe, no ID on her, just like the others. She also has a brand mark on her lower back, what appears to be a claw. Also, cause of death seems to be strangulation from a thin wire, most likely piano wire." Jo sighed, and looking over at Mac and Flack, she voiced all of their concerns.

"I think we have a serial killer on our hands."

Back at the lab, the team met in the War Room, with Mac standing in front of the many screens that lined the wall. Each of them were filled with pretty gruesome pictures of their three known victims.

"So far what we know in terms of similarities, is that each victim is in their mid-thirties. Also, they are all brunettes and are attractive. We've identified the latest victim by running her through the DMV databases-"

"That was me!" Adam proudly pointed out.

"Thank you Adam," Detective Taylor continued, "Her name is Sasha Anderson. The victim before her, the one also found in Central Park was Sarah Murphy. The first victim as we all know, was Kelly Rempford. Now, apart from Kelly Rempford, these other two victims had high-ranking jobs. Sasha Anderson was a high-profile lawyer, who was also one of the most expensive lawyers in New York City, and Sarah Murphy was one of the best neurosurgeons in her field in New York City. Each woman was bound, raped, branded, and then strangled with piano wire. Our killer seems to be killing more frequently so either he feels pressured because we've become more invested in this case, or he's escalating. The killer obviously has a hate for women, possibly because of a previous relationship with a lover. Our primary suspect is Garrett Rempford, though so far we cannot directly link him to the murders. That's all for now."

The team got up and hurried back to their respective stations. Jo moved toward the door, but Mac asked her to wait.

"Can you come with me to the autopsy room? Sid says he has something to show us, and since you and I are heading this investigation, I thought you should come too." Mac looked over at Jo as she nodded. He liked Jo, they hadn't been working with each other for that long, but he always felt like he could trust her. He would never admit it, but he thought that she was very beautiful and caring. She always knew what to say and was the best with victims. He glanced at her now, and couldn't help but stare at her for a second. The way her cheekbones stood out so prominently and how her eyes narrowed when she was thinking. He quickly shook himself out of his daydream, and cleared his throat, following Detective Danville out of the room and wondering about what he just felt.

Sid Hammerback quickly snapped on his glasses before leaning over the latest victim, Sasha Anderson.

"I found bruises and cuts along her arms, legs, and back," he said, pointing at some very painful-looking marks on her body.

"So he's definitely escalating, obviously he feels more hate towards these women," Jo said, looking repulsed by the idea that such a man could exist.

"I also found that they're branded anti-mortem, judging by how the flesh had begun to scab on her," he said, turning her over. An ugly, claw-shaped brand, now a dark red color was evident on her lower back. Mac and Jo both looked disgusted.

"That's all I've found for now," Sid said, looking a bit peeved. "This guy is good, he cleans the bodies before he dumps them."

"Thanks, keep us updated, Sid," Mac said as he and Jo left the room.

Detectives Taylor and Danville stood outside Garrett Rempford's house. The neighborhood seemed pretty deserted, they hadn't spotted many other people, just a couple of bums. The house was a white two story with a wrap-around porch, once-beautiful, but now it looked like it needed a nice new coat of paint and a little TLC. Mac, with his hand on his holster, knocked on the white door. He knew they were just here to question Garrett again, but he didn't want to take any chances. He knew that it was not his job to assume a person was the killer, but there was something about this guy that didn't seem right. He waited, and could feel Jo tensed beside him. No one answered and he was about to knock again, when they both heard a woman's scream come from inside the house. Mac and Jo looked at each other, and then kicked in the door. Guns pointed down, they quickly entered the house. It seemed like no one had lived there in a while; there was no furniture, and all the floors were covered in dust. The screaming continued, and it seemed to be coming from the kitchen ahead of them. They cautiously entered the kitchen and saw a tape recorder sitting on the ground.

"What the hell-?" Jo began, but suddenly she felt something heavy hit the back of her head and then fell into blackness.

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**TBC? Or should I ditch it?**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's Chapter 2, should I keep going or drop it? Not really sure... Anyway, reviews and ratings are appreciated, soo enjoy! (Btw, gets a little dark at the end, but nothing that bad)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, for entertainment only**

**CHAPTER 2**

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Danny found Lindsay running the tissue samples of burned flesh under a microscope, trying to find out if there was any trace from whatever this guy had used to brand the victim with. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she smiled.

"Having any luck with the clothes?" Lindsay asked hopefully.

"None. This bastard was careful. He used gloves, changed the clothes. All of them were generic brands, you can find them hundreds of places around New York City. There wasn't any trace that could be helpful." Danny sighed. "Anyway, I was looking for Mac, have you seen him?"

"Last I heard he and Jo went to Garrett Rempford's to question him again."

"Hm, ok, I'll wait to he comes back. I just have to ask him about vacation times. Nothing important." Danny kissed Lindsay on the cheek and went back to the unhelpful clothes.

Jo woke up to a dull throbbing pain in the back of her head. She grunted, and tried to get up, and found that her ankles and wrists were shackled to a thick pipe in the corner of a room. She looked around, feeling nauseous from the blow and saw Mac slumped in a corner opposite from her. He began to stir, so she relaxed a little, knowing that he was ok for the time being. She looked around and saw that they were in some sort of basement, small and windowless. There were stairs in the corner by Mac. A bare lightbulb hung from the ceiling and as the pain in the back of her head subsided a little, she saw to her horror, that in the corner nearest to her was a wood stove with a claw-shaped brand leaning next to it. She also noticed a chair with leather straps hanging from it and a tray with various knives, pliers, and other instruments used for torture. She started to panic and strain against the shackles, only managing to make bruises form around her wrists. She leaned back against the wall and then sat up when she heard a groan come from the opposite corner and saw that Mac was awake. He blinked at her, groggy, and then looked around. She noticed how his eyes widened when he realized where they were.

"Jo... are you okay?" he asked, his words slightly slurred from being hit on the head with god-knows-what.

"Yeah, but not for long if we don't find a way to get out of here fast," she said, noticing how his wrists and ankles were shackled to a pipe, too. "That bastard took our guns, badges, and phones," she said. Mac looked at Jo and started to say something, but quickly stopped when they heard the door at the top of the stairs open, and Garrett Rempford appeared. They both watched him closely as he came down the stairs.

"Ah, I see my two star detectives are awake from their little nap!" he laughed. Mac and Jo just glared at him. "Well then, you two aren't too talkative, are you?" he started to frown a bit. Suddenly he rounded on Jo and before she could even move, he grabbed her by the hair and pinned her to the wall. She let out a gasp of pain, her hair felt like it was being ripped out of her scalp, and the shackles strained her arms.

"Get off of her, you son of a bitch!" Mac yelled, tugging at his bonds.

Garrett just laughed and swung his fist and hit Jo square in the face with a sickening thud. She dropped to the ground, unconscious before she even hit the floor.

"You see, Detective Taylor, this is how it works: You do something bad, Jo here gets to pay for it. I didn't like what you called me, so she got hit. It's as simple as that. Now I know that you work in the crime lab that's processing my case and I need a little favor.

"Adam!" Danny entered Adam's office and saw the younger team member seated in front of his various monitors. Seeing Danny enter, Adam quickly shut off the screen.

"Hey, have Mac and Jo contacted you? I'm starting to worry, I've tried both their phones but they go straight to voicemail." Danny's brow was furrowed and Adam knew something was wrong since Danny didn't get easily worried.

"I can track the GPS on their phones... hold on a sec." Adam quickly whipped around on his chair and went to work on his computer, the monitors flashing with various numbers and commands.

"Let's see... um... it seems that they're still at Garrett Rempford's home address."

"That's weird, they should've come back a couple hours ago. They were only stopping by for some quick questions." Both Danny and Adam exchanged worried glances and then thinking the same thing, they both bolted out of the room.

_Jo, Jo, Jo... wake up._

"Ugh..." Jo groaned, not opening her eyes. Someone was calling her name, _it's probably Ellie, oh God, I bet I slept in again._ Jo slowly opened her eyes and became aware of a dull throbbing that seemed to come from just about her whole face. She groaned and sat up, disoriented.

"Jo... Jo, are you awake?" Mac Taylor sat across the room from her with a concerned look on his face. Seeing him chained to the wall suddenly sparked her memory and she realised what was going on and where she was. She groaned and sat up, gently touching her face. Blood was clotting around her nose and lip, and she could feel a bruise forming around her left cheekbone. Suddenly she saw a shadow move in the corner of her eye, she hadn't realised that Garrett had been standing there. As he stepped into the light, she eyed him defiantly. She wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of thinking that he scared her.

His deep voice permeated the small room, "As I was telling the Detective, I need a small favor. It seems that I'm the primary suspect in your case, and I don't like that. Now all the evidence and such that proves that I'm the killer," he giggled and had a slightly crazed look in his eye, "which I am, as you may have found out by now, is in your crime lab. So here's what's going to happen. I've been watching you two and I see the way you look at each other, there's no doubt that either of you would let the other one suffer. So Mac is going to bring me to the crime lab tomorrow evening and collect every bit of evidence there is against me. Meanwhile, you and ten pounds of C4 will stay here in this room. If Mac so much as sneezes when I tell him not to, I'll push a remote control and your little team will have to scrape you off the floor with a spatula. Got it?" His eyes were livid and his face red. Jo looked at him, pale faced. The whole part about her getting potentially blown up wasn't what disturbed her most, it was how much he was enjoying this.

"Anyway, my plan doesn't start until tomorrow night, so... we have this whole evening and tomorrow to ourselves... You know, I didn't like you from the start, Detective Danville. I hate it when women think that they can do anything. They get all pushy and bossy. _Men _should be in charge. I like Detective Taylor here, he knows how to lead a precise operation. But you... you know I wish I lived a couple hundred years earlier, when it was all, 'women should be seen, not heard.' Because you are something to look at," he faced Jo and curled his fingers around her jaw until she whimpered in pain, "I just don't think you should talk as much."

"Let go of her! I swear, if you hurt her, I will kill you!" Mac threatened, his face dark. Garrett just laughed and clenched his fist harder around Jo's jaw.

Jo felt her jaw begin to really hurt, and she was sick of this son of a bitch harassing her. Before he could react, she kicked out her leg and felt some satisfaction when it connected with his stomach. He fell to the floor with a grunt, but he was quickly back on his feet again. He cursed and quickly moved toward her. Then he grabbed Jo by the neck and pinned her to the wall. She could feel his vice-like grip and couldn't breathe. She reached for his hands to stop him, but the shackles prevented her arms from moving any higher than her waist. Black spots swam in her vision and her struggles gradually became weaker before blackness once again engulfed her.

"Garrett Rempford!? NYPD, open the door!" Detective Don Flack knocked on Garrett's door of his run down house, gun in hand. After waiting for a couple seconds, Flack signaled to the team he brought with him to surround the perimeters. Moving aside, he allowed two officers to knock down the door. Flack quickly entered the dirty house, gun in his hand, ready for a possible ambush. Everything was quiet on the main floor, so Flack signaled for a couple of uniforms to check upstairs, while he headed toward the basement door. Gun ready and aimed, Flack kicked in the basement door and headed down the stairs. He reached the bottom and turned on the light and holstered his gun.

"It's clear down here!" Flack yelled up the stairs. He gave one last look around the empty basement, and then headed back up the stairs.

A couple minutes later, Danny and Lindsay arrived at the Garrett Rempford's house. Flack greeted them, grim-faced and led them into the kitchen, where both Mac and Jo's phones were lying on the table.

"It looks like he used the phones to lure us here and put us off track," Flack informed them.

"This means that two Detectives are missing and most likely Garrett Rempford has them. We should be on full alert-"

All of the sudden all the CSI's and Detectives could hear was a loud explosion.

Mac struggled against the shackles that restricted his his hands and feet. A couple of hours ago, Garrett had come downstairs and duct taped Mac's mouth shut. Then he tightened the shackles around the pipe so Mac was only allowed to stand against the pipe. It was an awkward and painful position, with his arms pulling down and being unable to move his legs. Garrett then started going up the stairs, but stopped when he was halfway up.

"You know why I duct taped your mouth, Mac? It's so that your little cop friends won't hear you down here. Yeah, they're over at my house." Seeing the confusion on Mac's face, Garrett laughed. "Oh, you haven't figured it out? You're in my neighbors' basement. See, they're gone for the spring visiting their parents. So they asked me to house-sit, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Now, I'm off to go blow up your Detective friends. Sit tight."

Mac could only stare at him in horror. He just hoped that Flack hadn't missed any explosives in the house. He waited for a couple minutes and began to feel better after only hearing silence. He then startled when he heard a boom in the distance. He felt tears gather in his eyes and felt the urge to kill Garrett Rempford. Even though Mac hardly cried, it was hard to suppress when he thought of his friends across the street, and he prayed that they were alive and hopefully not hurt. He looked across the room at Jo. She was still unconscious and he was beginning to worry. He hoped there wasn't any brain damage. She'd been knocked out three times by that bastard Garrett, and he wished that she would open her eyes and smile, that they would be in the lab, and not here in this cold, damp basement. Mac sighed and knew that hoping wouldn't get him anywhere. He began looking around the basement for anything that could be used to get these shackles off of him. If he could just get free, then maybe he could overpower Garrett once he came back down. A couple minutes passed and he could hear sirens in the distance getting closer, probably coming to the aid of those caught in Garrett's explosion. Thinking about that made his head cloud with anger, and he knew that wouldn't help the situation, so he pushed it away for later. His attention turned back to Jo when he saw her begin to stir. He felt relieved that she was at least moving, but dreaded what Garrett had in store for her. He saw the way that scumbag looked at her, and he wanted to protect her. Mac knew it was a lie that he didn't have deeper feelings for her, but he was trying to be professional, but sometimes he couldn't help staring at Jo a little longer than he should. His thoughts were soon interrupted when she got up.

"Ugh, Mac?" Jo looked around, her voice was raspy and her head was pounding from where Garrett had hit her, and her throat hurt from where he had choked her. All she wanted to do was bash his head in with something heavy.

All Mac could do was grunt because of the duct tape.

Seeing him tied up and gagged, Jo snapped out of her grogginess and tugged at her shackles, but to no use.

"Mac-!" She began to say, when the door to the basement opened. Soon Garrett walked down the stairs, humming and smiling. His hair was sticking up in some places and his eyes had a crazed, vacant look.

"Jo, I'm glad you're finally awake. I was beginning to think you were dead, and I couldn't have that, since then who would I threaten to blow up when Mac is stealing evidence? And anyway, I thought we could have a little fun."  
"You sick bastard, what did you do to Mac?! You didn't need to gag him!" Jo glared at him and strained at her bonds.

"We just had a little chat, you see I just blew up your friends in the house across the street… my house. We're in the neighbors basement. And someone just died, because a coroner's van just pulled up!" He laughed with glee at seeing Jo's shocked expression. Jo just stood there, stunned. She couldn't believe it… Don, Lindsay, Danny, Adam, Hawkes… She couldn't imagine that one of these people could be dead. Before her brain could register through the shock, Garrett pushed her into the wall, pinning her between his body and the cold wall. She tried to wriggle free, and out of the corner of her eye Jo could see Mac struggling at the shackles. She looked back at Garrett saw his eyes move down her body.

"You know, for being older, you're pretty hot," Garrett said as his hands wandered up her body.

"Get the hell off of me," Jo struggled against him, but it was no use, he was bigger and stronger.

Her eyes widened as Garrett pulled out a gun from his back pocket, and she could tell that it was her gun. She tried not to look nervous as he held it up to her chin.

"Now, if you so much as try to run or hit me, I'll fucking kill you," he said as he took out a key from his dirty jeans and began to unlock her shackles.

Jo knew that there was no way that she was going to let this crazy bastard follow through with his plans, so as soon as he unlocked the last shackle, she punched Garrett hard, in the jaw. He roared in pain as she bolted up the stairs. Knowing that Mac was still down there, she figured it would be better if she ran and got help and came back for Mac, and that he would have agreed with her. But as soon as she reached the door, she felt a hand grip her ankle. Looking down, it was only a second before Garrett pulled as hard as he could, making Jo tumble down the wooden stairs. She let out a cry of pain as she felt her left arm snap as well as a couple of ribs. Lying at the bottom of the stairs, she let out sharp gasps of pain as Garrett stood over her.

"I told you not to run, bitch!" He yelled. He then grabbed her by her broken arm, and it felt like somebody had just thrown a block of cement on it. Jo couldn't help but let out a cry as he dragged her by her arm to the chair in the corner of the room. As Garrett threw her in it, and began to tie the restraints, a tear slipped down her face. Jo looked over and Mac and saw him struggling at the shackles, an angry look on his face. Garrett then grabbed the brand in the shape of a claw and turned on the wood stove.

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**TBC  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews, I'm trying to type as fast as I can. :P (Sorry, not as long as the other chapters, I didn't have as much time to write)  
**

**Disclaimer: CSI:NY belongs to CBS, for entertainment only**

**Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 3**

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"...What the hell…" Flack groaned and rolled over on his side. He could hear sirens in the distance, but he felt like his head was full of fog. Gently getting up, he looked around. Half of the kitchen was missing and the other half was coated in black soot. He couldn't spot Lindsay or Danny and he began to panic. He started to move towards the door, but pain shot down his leg. Looking down, he almost gagged when he saw that his left leg was a bloody mess, and on closer inspection, Flack could spot a flash of white from bone. Sitting back down on the floor, Don knew that he needed to keep looking for Lindsay and Danny, but hearing the shouts of policemen and Paramedics, he sunk back down onto the floor, feeling lightheaded.

"Lindsay!? Lindsay?!... Lind-!" Danny was frantically calling his wife's name around the destroyed house, when he was interrupted.

"Danny?! Danny, I'm out here!" Lindsay ran towards the house when she heard Danny call her name. Luckily, she had still been in the hallway when the explosion went off and managed to make it out the door.

"Oh God, you're alright!" Lindsay let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her husband looking fine, with just a couple of scratches and bruises.

Danny swept her up in a hug as paramedics filed past them into the house.

"I'm so glad you're alright. Jesus, how could we have missed that bomb?"

"I don't know, wait… where's Flack?" Both of them paused and then ran into the house, and stopped after seeing Flack on a stretcher being carried out by Paramedics.

Lindsay gasped, "Oh my God, is he going to be ok?" A young paramedic holding bandages quickly responded, "He'll be fine, but he does have a fractured leg and needs surgery. Right now he's pretty doped up on pain meds." Lindsay took Danny's hands in hers, "I'll stay here and process the scene, you go with Flack and get those cuts and bruises checked out. Also, I'll call Adam and tell him to keep working with Hawkes. We need to keep looking for Mac and Jo."

Danny was beginning to feel a headache coming on, and figured that it would be best to leave the processing to Lindsay. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he responded, "Thanks Linds, as soon as Flack gets out of surgery, I'll call. And call me if there's any update on the case."

Lindsay looked around, at the Paramedics who were tending to the CSU's and officers, who were processing the scene before the explosion. Luckily the worst injury was a minor concussion, but she was still angry. Angry at Garrett Rempford for getting away with murdering and raping those three women, and angry that he now he had Jo and Mac. She shivered, thinking about what he was doing to them now, or if they were even still alive. Half of her, the maternal side, wanted to go and tear apart all of New York for them until she found the two, but her detective side quickly took over and she knew that the best chance of finding them wasif she did her job correctly.

Quickly regaining her composure, she went back inside of the destroyed house.

"Aw, come on!" Adam hit his desk angrily, and then pushed the chair away from the monitor.

"Having some troubles?" Sheldon peeked his head around the corner of the doorway.

"There is nothing I can do! God dammit, Sheldon, what the hell are we supposed to do? All we had was the phone to go on, and we found Mac's Avalanche right outside the house… I use technology to solve crimes, but this time there is none! And Mac and Jo are out there with some crazy-ass sadistic guy-"

"Adam! Calm down, this isn't helping! Look, I think it's best if you head home for now, there isn't much more you can do, and you're only causing yourself more stress. It's not healthy, and this is advice you're getting from a doctor." Sheldon put his hand on Adam's chair to stop him from spinning around.

"Maybe you're right." He rubbed his eyes and leaned back. "I've been up for almost twenty-four hours. It'll probably do me some good to get some sleep."

"I'll call you as soon as I hear about any developments in the case, or anything about Mac and Jo. So far Sid and I haven't found anything on Sasha Anderson, the latest victim. It's so frustrating, there wasn't an ounce of trace on her body except for what was on her from Central Park. He definitely knew what he was doing, which makes sense based on his history of rape and murder."

"We'll get that bastard Rempford, and when we do I'd like to give him a piece of my mind," Adam said while packing some of his things up.

"Don't worry, we'll get him soon enough," Hawkes reassured Adam, but deep inside he dreaded that they would never find the two missing detectives.

Mac spit at Garrett Rempford's face as he tore the duct tape off his mouth.

"You sick fuck! Let her go!" Mac snarled into Rempford's face and strained at his bonds as Garrett held a red-hot brand in the shape of a claw inches from Mac's face.

"You know, you have quite the potty mouth. I think you should pay for that. Or… wait, we had a deal… Jo pays for that."

"No! Look… I'm… sorry." For the first time in a long time, Mac apologized. He felt sick apologizing to this creep, but all he thought about was protecting Jo. It was killing him to see her in pain, and he wished that it was him instead of her.

"Ha, ha, nice try. But…" he swung around and stood behind Jo, who leaned forward as far as she could go, despite being tied to the chair. She cringed, and tears stung her eyes but she refused to cry. She felt like throwing up when she felt Garrett's slimy fingers go down her back and lift up her shirt.

"Your skin is so soft," he whispered in her ear.

"Get the hell off of me, you bastard," she hissed, but she felt fear rising from her gut.

"You know, you should be more polite to your host," he hissed. Then in one swift movement he plunged the hot metal into the small of her back.

Mac felt more anger than he'd felt in a long time as he heard Jo scream in agony. He felt like vomiting when he smelled burning flesh and he had to hold his breath until the feeling passed. Garrett then calmly walked over to the wood stove and threw the metal pole into a bucket of water, all the while humming to himself.

Jo could barely stop herself from passing out. She'd never felt pain this intense before. It felt as if someone had slowly peeled away the skin on her back, jabbed knives into it repeatedly, and then set the wound on fire. She heard Mac yelling at Garrett and Garrett humming, but everything sounded distant and muffled. Shaking her head and taking deep breaths, she slowly came to her senses. She tried her best to forget the pain, but it was difficult to ignore the feeling that her back was on fire.

"Mac… I'm… fine. Really." She tried to reassure him after seeing the look of worry and anger on his face, but she knew she did a lousy job at calming him down.

"Jo… I'm so sorry." His eyes bored into her and she saw how much he really cared about her.

"Aww, how sweet." Garrett turned around from what he'd been doing and was holding a knife.

"Garrett, no! Please, I'll do anything you want, just leave Jo alone-" before Mac could finish, Garrett slammed his fist into his side. Mac gasped and slumped back against the wall. He knew that his ribs were at least cracked if not broken, and looking down, he saw that Garrett was wearing brass knuckles.

"Look, I call the shots! I'm in charge!" he screamed at Mac. He looked up and saw that Rempford's eyes were wild and vacant. He knew that he was escalating, and he just hoped that he would be able to escape the next day when Rempford took him to the lab to steal the evidence.

Garrett approached Jo and she glared at him when he pulled out the knife. He then glanced over at Mac, to make sure he was watching. Then Garrett grabbed Jo's hair and pulled her neck back and placed the knife over her collarbone.

"I need the codes for the lab, Mac. Give me everything. And just to make sure you don't give me the wrong ones…" in a flash he swiped the knife over Jo's collarbone, making her whimper in agony.

"Don't worry, I won't cut very deep, just enough to make it hurt. But each time, if you don't tell me what those codes are-" he then made a quick cut over Jo's leg, and she gritted her teeth, but Mac could tell that she was in pain. It hurt him to see her in such agony, and he knew that he had to give Garrett Rempford what he wanted, or he would keep torturing her until she was dead.

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**TBC, may be a little while until I upload another chapter, since summer break is over, so I won't have as much time on my hands. Anyway, it shouldn't be longer than a week. (Hopefully)**


	4. Chapter 4

**So sorry it took me a while longer to get this chapter up. I've been really busy and then when I sat down at the computer my brain decided that it would be a good time to develop writer's block. This chapter basically took me 4 hours, and half of that was staring blankly at my computer wondering what I was doing. Anyway, this chapter's a bit more dark and kind of depressing. :P**

**Anyway, enjoy and reviews are always appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, belongs to abc and Anthony Zuiker.**

**CHAPTER 4**

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Jo's struggles grew weaker, as she watched blood seep from her thighs, arms, stomach… her vision blurred, and Mac's shouts grew fainter. She heard Garrett whistling as he wiped the blood off his knife, and onto his pants.

"Now… Mac, are you ready to finally give up those codes?" Garrett Rempford held up the gleaming knife again as he grinned.

Mac knew that he wouldn't hesitate to keep torturing Jo, that he was a sadist, and he felt sickened at the thought of Rempford getting off on the pain he was causing her. He sighed, and began listing off the passwords for disarming the security, getting into the elevator, and for the evidence vaults.

Jo looked up as she heard Mac listing various numbers, but it didn't register in her brain. Looking up through half-closed eyes, she saw Garrett coming towards her.

"Look, I just told you what you wanted! Now please just leave her alone!" Mac rarely begged for anything, let alone to a crazy-ass, sadistic, killer, but he would do anything to stop Garrett from hurting Jo. Garrett ignored Mac's pleas and turned towards Jo. She flinched away, expecting more pain, but instead he undid the straps holding down her wrists and ankles. Then, before she could move, he grabbed her by her shirt and slammed her against the wall. She let out a sharp exhale, as pain surged down her back. She held back a cry of pain as he grabbed her injured wrist and pinned both her arms to her chest. She could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness, and it took all her effort to stay awake, even though she would've gladly welcomed the blackness that would take her away from this agony. But Jo also knew that she had to keep fighting. She looked over at Mac, and it pained her to see the defeat in his eyes. She thought about the way that the corner of his mouth would twitch when she approached him, and about all the late nights at the office where they would sit together and just talk, and how she wished that they would've done more than just talk. She also thought about Ellie and Tyler, and how she had to stay alive for their sake.

Jo looked up to meet her eyes with Garrett's just as he brought out a hammer, that he had hidden behind his back. There was nothing she could do as he swung it down onto her left leg with a sickening crack. She let out a cry and then dropped to the floor like a stone, blackness finally pulling her under.

Mac tried in vain to once again pull at his restraints, but all he felt was hopelessness at not being able to protect the woman he loved. He looked over at Jo's motionless form laying on the ground, and wondered if she would ever wake up.

Ellie Danville raced into the lab, with Tyler and Russ following close behind her. Hawkes came out to meet them.

"My mom, where is she?! Is she OK?" tears glistened in Ellie's eyes as Tyler comfortingly wrapped his arms around her.

"We're doing the best we can to find her and Mac. I'm sure that-"

"If you were doing the best you could, you would have found her!" Russ barged forward and blocked Sheldon off.

"If you imbeciles hadn't let Jo go out to that guys house in the first place, none of this would have happened!"  
"Jo's a grown woman, she can make her own decisions and she still would've gone even if one of us had suggested that she had stayed!" Sheldon could see why Jo had divorced Russ. He was definitely a controlling ass.

"You know what-" Russ made a move toward Sheldon before Tyler cut him off.

"Dad, maybe we should just go wait in the break room and let them do their job. The faster Dr. Hawkes can get back to work, the faster they can find mom."

Russ sighed and slumped over a bit. Giving one last backward glance, he led a crying Ellie over to the tables.

Sheldon sighed as he watched them go, knowing that Russ was right. They should've been doing their jobs better. So far he'd been calling Lindsay by the hour, and she'd turned up empty-handed at the house where the explosion took place. Almost all the evidence that they had collected before was destroyed by the fire, and it had also removed any trace evidence and fingerprints. Heading back toward the lab to try once again do any background history on Garrett Rempford, he rubbed his eyes and looked down at his watch. It was 5:30 at night. He realized the last time he ate was earlier that morning around 8, and he hadn't slept for at least 24 hours. Sheldon debated whether or not to follow Adam's lead and just head home and get some rest, but then he thought about Mac and Jo. The rest of the team (mostly Lindsay), always joked at how close they were and that they would surely end up as a couple. They definitely had chemistry, and were a perfect pair. Jo was so easygoing and laid back, making jokes and always so disorganized, while Mac was the exact opposite. Always uptight, so professional, and there wasn't a pencil that was in the wrong place on his desk. Sheldon chuckled and then sadness swept over him as he passed by their offices. They were both dark and looked sad and empty. He half expected Mac and Jo to step off the elevator together, Jo nudging his arm to try and engage him in a joke, and Mac silently shaking his head but secretly enjoying her company. As quickly as the sadness came, it left and was replaced by anger. He shook his exhaustion off of him and with a growing determination, headed to his desk to try and dig up whatever he could on Garrett Rempford.

Danny bolted upright, and heard something clatter to the ground. Feeling slightly panicked about his whereabouts, he immediately relaxed when he realized that he had fallen asleep in a chair while waiting for Don to wake up from his surgery. Looking down, he realized that the sound he heard earlier was a cup full of water that he had knocked off the bedside table. Sighing and stretching, he looked over at Flack and saw that he was still asleep. He then glanced at his phone lying on the chair and swore, realizing that he was supposed to call Lindsay with news on Flack. Quietly getting up, he headed outside in the hallway while dialing his wife's number.

"Hey, hon… yeah he's gonna be ok. Well now he's sleeping like a log, but I told the nurse to give him a little extra anesthesia or he would be out of the hospital and looking for Mac and Jo as soon as he woke up…. damn it, I can't believe you didn't find anything at the house. Do you at least know what caused the explosion?... C4? Great, that narrows it down. You can pretty much make your own version at home…. Oh good, you're back at the lab with Hawkes…. well don't let him wear himself out too much…. I think Flack is gonna wake up soon, and I want to be here to make sure that he doesn't try to play hero and get his leg screwed up even more than it is…. yeah, I'll call the nanny and make sure that she can keep watching Lucy… Love you too, hon. I'll be at the lab soon."

Danny hung up and went back into the hospital room and grabbed some paper towels at the sink. Wiping up the spilled water, he looked up at the bed where his earlier predictions were confirmed. Sure enough, Don was trying to sit up as best he could with a broken leg, and was unsuccessfully trying to put on a shirt.

Danny rushed over to him, "Woah, there. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Look… I need to go find Mac and Jo. Time's. Running out…" Flack flopped back down onto the bed, letting out a groan.

"Yes, you're very tough right now. All doped up on painkillers and with a compound fracture to the tibia. If you took one step out of this room, you would be the one who needs saving." Danny couldn't help but smile. It felt good to finally be able to crack a joke. With all the stress of finding his colleagues and wondering what Garrett could be doing to them, it had been a solemn last few days.

Seeing how Don's face was scrunched up in pain, he reached over and pressed the button that would call in the nurse so he could get more painkillers, while he gently pushed Don back into the bed.

"Is there any news…?" Flack looked somewhat hopeful, but it faded as Danny just shook his head.

"None. All of our leads are dead ends, we put an APB out on Rempford, but it's like he's disappeared. You would have thought that we would've gotten a ransom note or something, but there's nothing. All we have on him is the DNA evidence that connects him to the past three rapes and murders of those three women. But that's still enough to put him away for life. I almost wish that he would just call us and demand the evidence in exchange for Jo and Mac. That way we could at least give him fake evidence and get them back safely." Danny sighed and was about to fill Don in about how the explosion was caused by C4 hidden under the floorboards and was remotely detonated, but he heard snoring and saw that he had fallen back asleep. Shaking his head, he headed back to the lab.

"Hey, Danny." Lindsay planted a quick kiss on her husband's' cheek. Lindsay and Hawkes had been sitting in the break room with Russ, Ellie, and Tyler, when Danny arrived back at the lab.

"Hey guys." Looking around, Danny realized that they all looked exhausted. Everyone had dark circles under their eyes and their hair and clothes were messed up.

"I was just about to fill these guys in on what I learned about Rempford. Though it may not necessarily pinpoint his exact location, it's important to know who we're dealing with." Sheldon was flipping through a large file while he said this.

Turning to Ellie and Tyler, "Um… I'm not really sure if you should hear this. Some of it's kind of dark…"

"Come on, El, I'll take you outside and get some ice cream or something-" Tyler began, but Ellie quickly cut him off. "I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm fifteen! I want to hear." She crossed her arms and stayed sitting down. Sheldon looked around and seeing no protesters, kept going.

"So Garrett Rempford was born in Trenton, New Jersey. According to his elementary school file, he started showing sociopathic tendencies at a young age. He would alienate himself from his classmates and no one wanted to befriend him. Because of this, he was a target for bullies. Except if someone was bullying him, they would somehow end up in a mysterious accident. For example, Billy Anderson teased Garrett for being a nerd and a loser. A couple weeks after the bullying started, Billy "mysteriously" fell off the jungle gym and broke his arm. He never bullied Garrett again, and their teacher suspected Garrett of pushing him off the jungle gym, but she could never prove it, and Billy seemed too scared to talk. Weird things like that kept on happening at Garrett's schools all the way until he graduated from High School. I think the worst case was when he was in High School. Apparently Garrett only had one friend then, a Susie Charleton. She was nice, and accepted Garrett's offer to go to prom with him. According to the teachers, it seemed more out of pity than love. Anyway, this jock, Mark Holtsenberger, also liked Susie. So he asked her to ditch Garrett and go with him, and of course she picked the jock over the outcast. So she went to prom with Mark Holtsenberger before Garrett had even left to pick her up. The next day, Mark showed up in front of the Emergency Room with one eye missing. He was never the same after that night. And according to Susie, she saw Garrett with blood on his hands after prom. But Garrett's mother provided an alibi, saying that Garrett had stayed at home that night working on a school science project that involved working with red paint, and then he'd gone for walk, so that must've been where the red "blood" had come from. But after that incident, nobody picked on him again, and Mark Holtsenberger was committed to a mental institution in 2000, where he committed suicide in 2001."

There was a brief silence. "Jesus Christ, this guy was nut," Danny pretty much voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Should I keep going…?" Sheldon hesitated, seeing the shock on everyone's faces.

"Yeah."

"OK, as for Garrett Rempford's home life, it wasn't exactly a child's dream. His father was never in the picture, and his mother was a hard-core alcoholic. She died from liver poisoning when he was 19. But from what I could find, apparently he loved her dearly. Which makes sense, because abused children often care about their parents. Now I talked to the daughter of Garrett's old neighbors. She said that there was often shouting coming from the house, and he would sometimes show up to the bus stop with bruises on his arms and legs, which he would cover up with a jacket or long-sleeved shirt. She never asked him about it, because he was so weird and he always distanced himself from the other kids. One time she even saw old scars that looked like cuts on his collarbone and legs. But by then she knew it was a good idea to steer clear of him. Now there was one incident when he was really little, like in kindergarten, where he had burn marks on his back. The teacher called child services and he was temporarily placed in a foster home while his mother was arrested, but due to a technicality, he ended up back with her."

"So do you think that's why he brands his victims? Because his mother used to burn him? And why he has such a hate towards women?" Lindsay voiced her ideas, which made sense.

"Probably. But get this, after High School, he went on to Cornell, getting a full ride, and suddenly he becomes a model citizen. Gets a girlfriend, marries her, pays taxes. Not even a single parking ticket. And since all that previous stuff occurred when he was a minor, it's not listed on his permanent record." Sheldon finished and threw the file onto the table.

"God, that's terrible. No wonder he turned out to be such a crazy." Danny whistled.

"Yeah, but his childhood doesn't justify what he does as an adult. There are plenty of people who were abused as a kid and don't rape and torture women for the fun of it." Lindsay added, and everyone at the table nodded, lost in their own thoughts.

"I think it's time for Danny and I to get home. We'll keep our phones on all night, but we need to get home to Lucy and there's nothing more for us to do here except mope around." Lindsay pointed out, while yawning.

"I agree. Look, I'll stay here and analyze the trace from the explosion again, see if we missed anything. I'll call you guys if there's any change," Sheldon reassured them, while getting up.

"And you three," he turned to Russ, Ellie, and Tyler. "You aren't doing much good here either, except for looking sad. I think it's time you guys head home. I'll call you too if there's any developments." Russ looked like he was about to argue, but a sharp glance from Danny and Sheldon silenced him and he just nodded and led a sleepy Ellie and Tyler toward the elevators.

As the five people got on the elevator, yawning and stretching, Dr. Hawkes once again headed back toward the lab, feeling more hopeless than ever.

Mac jolted awake when he heard a noise. He was sitting with his back leaning against the wall, his ankles and wrists still shackled. Garrett had finally released him from that painful standing position, and led him at gunpoint to the bathroom, and then back down to the basement. He had tried to fight him, but he was weak without food and from multiple injuries to the head and ribs, and all Garrett had to do was give him a good whack on the head with the butt of the gun, and he was out. Now he looked up again when he heard the noise. It sounded like someone was being dragged…

"Mac?" he instantly sat up, and his vision cleared and though it was still slighty blurry, he could see Jo. She had dragged herself from laying on the ground, to sitting against the wall. His breath caught in his throat when he saw that she looked like hell. Her face was bloody and bruised, but the worst part was her leg. It was bent at an odd angle, and covered in blood. Her arms and left shoulder was also covered in blood.

"Oh God… Jo. I'm so sorry…. this is all my fault. I should've given him the codes sooner."

"No.. Mac. Don't." She paused, it hurt to talk, in fact it hurt no matter what she did.

"Jo…" he edged closer to her and the chains just allowed him to hold her hand. "I love you. I just wanted you to know, because I should've told you a long time ago. I am so sorry about this. I would've taken your place in a heartbeat." He gently leaned down, even though pain shot through his ribs, and lightly kissed her hand. He trailed his fingers along her silver rings that he always loved seeing her wear, and then sat there holding her hand, and just hoping that if he didn't survive this, then at least she should.

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**TBC**

**Yeah, the ending's a bit cheesy. Sorry about that. I usually don't write cheesy things like that, but you know, gotta throw in some Mac/Jo. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, usually I put my personal deadlines at around a week. Sooo hopefully by then.**


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